Cash For Clunkers a surprise boon to local chemical supplier's bottom line

The new Cash for Clunkers auto trade-in program boosted sales ten-fold for the Grand Rapids company that manufactures liquid glass, the product used to seize the motors of the trade-ins at the time of disposal.

According to excerpts from the story:

Ron Balk's company, Cleaning Solutions Inc., specializes in soaps and pest repellents based on environmentally safe chemicals. But a big boom hit in late July — for sodium silicate, the agent of death for clunkers.

After one auto dealer inquired about the liquid glass product, an employee told Balk: "This is going to be big!" Balk didn't buy it, until his company at 1250 Ramona St. SE ran a few small ads on Google.

The product we had in our ad was gone within 15 minutes, Balk said. Now, he is a primary source of the engine-seizing fluid for auto dealers in West Michigan and beyond, because every Cash for Clunkers trade-in must be completely disabled.

Read the complete story here.


Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.